I may be phoning in to the show from The Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington, D.C., where I'm scheduled to attend a lecture by Dr. Tawfik Hamid, Muslim reformer and author of The Roots of Jihad.HERE is Dr. Hamid's web site, and HERE is Google-search information.

Friday's lecture runs from noon-2:00 PM, EDT. If I can nab Dr. Hamid for an interview in the first half hour of the show, I will! In any case, I plan to call in with an immediate report on the lecture.

If you are unable to listen live to the radio show, you can listen to recordings of the radio broadcasts later by CLICKING HERE.

On Friday, June 29, 2007, I attended a lecture given by Dr. Tawfik Hamid at the Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington, D.C. The lecture was entitled "Radicalization of Young Muslims." Following the lecture, I got up my nerve and asked Dr. Hamid if he would be willing to be interviewed on The Gathering Storm Radio Show. He graciously agreed! The interview is HERE.

I also managed to get another interview for that same broadcast: Clare M. Lopez (Bio here) of The Intelligence Summit. Recently, Ms. Lopez, along with Ambassador Richard Carlson and Colonel Bill Cowan, taped a radio segment called "Danger Zone" for Washington, D.C.'s WMAL (630 AM). The show will air on Sunday, July 1, 2007, and should be available on line after it airs.

I will be posting a review of Dr. Hamid's lecture in a few days. His strategy to curb the violent practice of Islam centers around using a concept called "the relativity of Koranic verses."

Wednesday, June 27, 2007

Today, President Bush is scheduled to speak at the Washington D.C. Islamic Center, which has ties to Wahhabism. Here, at Vigilant Freedom/910 Blog, in "Sir, Have You No Shame?" is what Baron Bodissey of Gates of Vienna had to say about what our President is doing today (emphases mine):

President Bush has been seduced by the dark side of the Force.

That’s the only explanation I can think of.

He will speak tomorrow at the Washington Islamic Center, the most prominent Saudi-funded mosque in Washington DC. Not to mince words, it’s a Wahhabist mosque.

Bloggers: we need to blog on this, and have our readers light up the phones at the White House tonight and tomorrow.

Readers: see the contact info at the bottom of this post. The important phone numbers are 202-456-1414 (voice) and 202-456-2461 (fax).

The Administration claims to want to shut down terrorist groups. The groups represented at the President’s speech include CAIR, MPAC, ISNA, etc., which are known cover groups and fronts for the architects and funding sources of the Muslim Brotherhood and related Islamic terror groups. The President must state his firm commitment to shutting down these terror groups.

The President must make the point that Islam as it is practiced by many of these groups is not a religion, but a political ideology which seeks to dominate the rest of us by force.

The groups invited to and/or sponsoring this event must disavow Hamas, Hizbullah, etc. specifically and by name and not just utter generalized mealy-mouthed condemnations of “all kinds of terrorism”. Those who will not join in such a denunciation are de facto apologists and supporters of the jihad groups.

The leaders of these groups have not addressed the criminal and immoral attacks on civilians by Islamic suicide bombers and terrorists. This must change. They must publicly and clearly denounce these attacks as unacceptable and un-Islamic.

Any effort to implement the above changes is routinely denounced as “racism” and “Islamophobia”. The President must make clear that opposing political Islam is not any of these things; it is an honorable, patriotic, and morally justified enterprise in defense of human liberty.

These groups must be compelled to acknowledge that extremist and violent Islam is a real, widespread, and serious problem, and not just a figment of the “infidel” imagination. They must be seen publicly to join in the movement to denounce and resist it.

The Islamic groups which encourage their followers not to cooperate with the police, the FBI, and other law-enforcement agencies are not just being unhelpful, they are breaking the law.

The groups involved in this event have routinely denounced the “Zionist lobby”. It should be stated explicitly that this is an unacceptable attack on the pluralism of American society.

The focus on Israel as the putative cause of all Islamic violence must stop.

We call on President Bush to state publicly and forcefully that the Muslim Brotherhood, which is behind many of these “charities” and lobbying groups, is a dangerous, violent, and subversive entity which threatens the security of the United States and the entire Western world. It must be delegitimized and put beyond the pale of acceptable social action.

Sunday, June 24, 2007

WASHINGTON, June 22 (Reuters) - The U.S. House of Representatives voted on Friday to prohibit any aid to Saudi Arabia as lawmakers accused the close ally of religious intolerance and bankrolling terrorist organizations.

The prohibition, reflecting persistent tensions with the kingdom after the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States in 2001, was attached to a foreign aid funding bill for next year that has not yet been debated by the Senate.

It also faces a veto threat from the White House because of an unrelated provision.

[...]

In the past three years, Congress has passed bills to stop the relatively small amount of U.S. aid to Saudi Arabia, only to see the Bush administration circumvent the prohibitions....

Wednesday, June 20, 2007

Follow-up to The Gathering Storm Radio Show of June 15 (Please ignore my techie kerfluffles during the first several minutes), when WC and I interviewed David Yerushalmi of SANE: CAIR is whining about The Mapping Shari'a in America Project.

I can't say what needs to be said any better than WC has in this posting. Excerpt:

Wednesday, June 13, 2007

Those of you who follow Northern Virginiastan know that the 9/11 Mosque is our nickname for the Dar Al Hijrah Mosque in Falls Church. This article from Insight (found via Jihad Watch) describes going undercover at the 9/11 Mosque and meeting with Shaker el Sayyed and Iman Johari Abdul-Malik, two scroundrels that we've covered here at Northern Virginiastan. They directed the infiltrator to the works of Ali Al-Timini, the "spiritual" mentor of the Virginia "paintball" jihadist gang. A new name to me is Yusuf Estes - any information that readers can provide about this character would be greatly appreciated!

Washington, DC – The Society of Americans for National Existence (SANE) will hold a news conference on Wednesday, June 13, at 10:30 am, in the Hughes Room on the Second Floor of the Willard InterContinental Washington Hotel, 1401 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, DC 20004-1010, to announce the launch of its Mapping Shari’a in America Project.

The project will collect information about America’s 2,300-plus mosques and associated day schools, provide information to both law enforcement officials and the public, and test the proposition that Shari’a amounts to a criminal conspiracy to overthrow the U.S. government.

The speakers will be:

David Yerushalmi, the President of SANE.

Dave Gaubatz, Director of the Mapping Shari’a Project.

About SANE: The Society of Americans for National Existence (SANE) is a non-profit 501c3 organization based in Arizona with offices in New York. SANE is a membership organization with thousands of members from all over the US. SANE is dedicated to preserving and strengthening America’s national existence by probing a new and deeper discussion of the issues others fear or just avoid.

Tuesday, June 12, 2007

Membership in the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) has declined more than 90 percent since the 2001 terrorist attacks, according to tax documents obtained by The Washington Times.

The number of reported members spiraled down from more than 29,000 in 2000 to fewer than 1,700 in 2006. As a result, the Muslim rights group's annual income from dues dropped from $732,765 in 2000, when yearly dues cost $25, to $58,750 last year, when the group charged $35.

The organization instead is relying on about two dozen donors a year to contribute the majority of the money for CAIR's budget, which reached nearly $3 million last year.

[...]

CAIR listed contributors in its Form 990 filings with the Internal Revenue Service, but the IRS redacted all the names before releasing the documents.

In 2001, 26 contributors gave more than $1.6 million; in 2002, 26 gave more than $2.6 million; in 2003, 24 gave more than $2 million; in 2004, 20 gave more than $1.4 million; in 2005, 19 contributed $1.3 million.

One has to wonder who those deep-pocketed donors are and if those donors have anything to do with the following:

In 2004, a federal grand jury returned a 42-count indictment against the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development and seven officers for raising money for Hamas, money laundering and falsifying tax returns. The Holy Land trial begins July 16 in Dallas, and CAIR is listed among 300 new co-conspirators filed May 29 [2007] in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas.

According to the government's trial brief, filed May 29, CAIR is an entity "who are, and or were, members of the U.S. Muslim Brotherhood's Palestine Committee and/or its organization."

Mousa Abu Marzook, a former CAIR official, "has been since 1995, a specially designated terrorist and Hamas leader," the brief said.

Predictably, CAIR is complaining:

Mr. Ahmed called the Justice Department's brief "a McCarthyite political move that allows the government to smear major American Muslim groups, including hundreds of mosques representing hundreds of thousands of ordinary Muslims nationwide, without any evidence being offered in a court of law and without legal recourse for those defamed."

"It is unfortunate that the Justice Department apparently violated its own guidelines, which indicate that such lists are to remain sealed to prevent unfair and un-American labeling of those who are not facing any criminal charges," Mr. Ahmed said.

Apparently, CAIR represents few American Muslims, despite the organization's being quite prominent on news interviews and as advocates for Muslim rights in certain cases (i.e., that of the six praying imams). The above-cited article also contains information indicating that CAIR is full of taqiyya, although the Washington Times doesn't use the term:

CAIR constantly notes in its press releases that it cooperates with federal law-enforcement activities and claims to conduct sensitivity training for Homeland Security officials. A February press release from CAIR's Chicago office says it met with Homeland Security immigration officials and made an agreement to "conduct sensitivity training to [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] officers and possibly prison personnel."

Homeland Security officials deny such claims and a check of the Office of Management and Budget Watch database of government contracts since 2000 shows CAIR has never been awarded a grant or a government contract."The department does not have a formalized relationship with that particular organization," said one Homeland Security official speaking on the condition of anonymity.

Might a not-formalized relationship be an informal one? After all, government officials and representatives from federal law-enforcement sometimes attend CAIR banquets and other events at which CAIR provides sensitivity training. Also, consider this, from May 7, 2007, as listed on CAIR's web site:

CAIR-CT TRAINS FBI AGENTS ON ISLAM

(NEW LONDON, CT, 5/7/07) - Representatives of the Connecticut chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-CT) recently offered diversity and sensitivity training on Islam and Muslims to officials at the New Haven office of the FBI.

The hour-long training included information on basic Islamic beliefs and practices.

The above is just one example. Here are some more, with links for CAIR chapter involvements (According to CAIR a partial listing including Florida, Maryland, Ohio, Michigan, New York, Arizona, California, Kentucky, St. Louis, and San Antonio) and the following bulleted list:

• Recently received a letter from the commissioner of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement highlighting the positive working relationship between the department and CAIR-FL• Conducted sensitivity trainings for the FBI in Orlando and Jacksonville• Held a joint press conference with the FBI and several other law enforcement agencies seeking information on a person wanted for questioning• Participated in an 8-week Police Community Relations Leadership Program with the Miami Dade Police Department• In collaboration with the FBI, FDLE, BSO and several other law enforcement agencies, coordinated a forum with state Islamic leaders• Participated in several town hall meetings with FBI, FDLE, and U.S. Attorney's office discussing the issues of security and liberty

Uncontracted relationships, I suppose. Then, again, the information comes from CAIR's web site, which isn't exactly the epitome of veracity.

Sunday, June 10, 2007

Come to Washington DC on June 10, and join us in a rally to support Israel's right to peace, security and defensible borders!

Israel's opponents are on the move: On June 10, 2007, to mark the 40th anniversary of Israel's 1967 war of survival, the extremist groups "United for Peace and Justice" and "Muslim American Society Freedom Foundation" will hold what even the liberal magazine Tikkun called a rally for the "dissolution of the State of Israel." The "United for Peace and Justice" coalition includes such radical organizations as the Socialist Party USA, the Young Communists League, Communist Party USA, and the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee.

Israel's supporters depend on you: We will gather on the North side of Constitution Avenue, just west of the Capitol Reflecting Pool. We are organizing this literally one week before the event, with almost no resources or time. This Counter-Rally truly is the product of a few citizens who are deeply outraged that Israel's opponents might have demonstrated in our nation's capitol without any patriotic opposing voices who will tell truth to counter these lies.We must stand up to lies and distortions.

We will not have a microphone or a speakers' platform, but we CAN show our support with our signs, flags, patriotic songs and our own strong voices as individual citizens exercising our right to assemble. We are bringing signs and flags for you to hold, sponsored by Stand with Us. Feel free to make your own sign, but please use the messages listed below.

Date: Sunday, June 10

Place: Begin assembling on the North side of Constitution Avenue, apart from the opponents' demonstration, at 1:00 PM. Our exact location may change. Please check here before the rally, and look for our American and Israeli flags on June 10.

Time:

The Counter-Rally: The Stand with Israel Counter-Rally begins at 2:00 PM and lasts until 4:00 PMThe March: The March from the Capitol to the Ellipse begins at 4:00 PM. We plan to march with our signs and flags parallel to, but apart from, the main demonstration.

What to bring: Bring food, water, a hat, and sunscreen

Transportation: Don't drive--there is limited public parking on Capitol Hill. Take the metro to either Union Station on the red line or Capitol South on the orange/blue lines.

This week's scheduled guest for the most of the hour is Cassandra, author of Escape! From An Arab Marriage: Horror Stories of Women Who Fled From Abusive Muslim Husbands. Cassandra herself was married to a Christian Arab and to an Iranian Muslim; therefore, she has unique insights. She is presently working on publishing other books about Islam.

If you are unable to listen to the radio show live, you can listen to recordings of the radio broadcasts later by CLICKING HERE.

Monday, June 04, 2007

Federal prosecutors have named three prominent Islamic organizations in America as participants in an alleged criminal conspiracy to support a Palestinian Arab terrorist group, Hamas.

Prosecutors applied the label of "unindicted co-conspirator" to the Council on American-Islamic Relations, the Islamic Society of North America, and the North American Islamic Trust in connection with a trial planned in Texas next month for five officials of a defunct charity, the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development.

While the foundation was charged in the case, which was filed in 2004, none of the other groups was. However, the co-conspirator designation could be a blow to the credibility of the national Islamic organizations, which often work hand-in-hand with government officials engaged in outreach to the Muslim community.

A court filing by the government last week listed the three prominent groups among about 300 individuals or entities named as co-conspirators. The document gave scant details, but prosecutors described CAIR as a present or past member of "the U.S. Muslim Brotherhood's Palestine Committee and/or its organizations." The government listed the Islamic Society of North America and the North American Islamic Trust as "entities who are and/or were members of the U.S. Muslim Brotherhood."

[...]

Spokesmen for CAIR did not respond to messages seeking comment yesterday. Efforts to contact the North American Islamic Trust were unsuccessful.

The identification of the alleged co-conspirators could aid prosecutors when the Holy Land Foundation and five of its officials, Shukri Abu-Baker, Mohammad El-Mezain, Ghassan Elashi, Mufid Abdulqader, and Abdulraham Odeh, go to trial on July 16 in Dallas. Statements by and about co-conspirators are exempt from rules barring hearsay.

[...]

CAIR, in particular, has faced persistent claims that it is soft on terrorism. Critics note that several former CAIR officials have been convicted or deported after being charged with fraud, embargo violations, or aiding terrorist training. Spokesmen for the group have also raised eyebrows for offering generic denunciations of terrorism but refusing to condemn by name specific Islamic terrorist groups such as Hamas or Hezbollah.

In addition, one of the Holy Land Foundation defendants, Ghassan Elashi, founded CAIR's Texas chapter. CAIR's Washington office was also set up in 1994 with $5,000 in seed money from the foundation, according to congressional testimony by a researcher into Islamic extremism, Steven Emerson.

Last year, Senator Boxer of California, a Democrat, withdrew an award she gave to an official at a local CAIR chapter. She said she had concerns about statements by some CAIR officials and about claims of financial links to terrorism....

Friday, June 01, 2007

The following activity was not held in the D.C. Metro area. But are similar actitivities being held in public schools here? Readers might want to check to see what's going on in public schools in the region. If any readers here know of similar activities here, those readers are invited to notify us at Northern Virginiastan by commenting here.

AMHERST— For one night, on May 9, the quaint colonial town of Amherst, New Hampshire, was transformed into a Saudi Arabian Bedouin tent community, with the help of 80 seventh-graders at the Amherst Middle School. The weather cooperated, providing 85 degree temperatures to give an authentic Saudi feel to the evening.

More than 250 guests arrived at the open tent and were welcomed with an Arabic greeting of “Marhaba” by students at a Saudi customs desk.

During the check-in, guests selected a traditional Arabic name for their name badge and completed an actual Saudi customs form, which warned in bold letters “Death for Drug Trafficking ” at the top.

Once inside, guests were encouraged to circulate among 14 different stations created by the students.

The Arabic food-tasting station offered four entrées, curried chicken, lamb, tomato chicken with cardomom, and Moroccan chicken, served with pita breads, hummus, and couscous. Fresh fruits, cardomom coffees, and spice teas were also served.

Flowing fabrics hung from the ceiling separated the family and men-only dining sections. The tables were set on large rugs and lowered so that the diners sat on the floor.

Only the seventh-grade boys were allowed to host the food stations and the Arabic dancing, as the traditions of Saudi Arabia at this time prevent women from participating in these public roles.

Dressed in traditional Arabic wear—long plaid kilts, white shirts and turbans—the boys offered food and entertained guests. The Arabic dancers enthusiastically performed to music and encouraged male visitors to join their dance.

Seventh-grade girls hosted the hijab and veil stations, where other female guests learned how to wear the required head covering and veils. An antique trunk full of black abayas worn by women, and white thobes worn by the men, were available for guests to try on.

Cultural items displayed throughout the room included Arabic books, games, food, and newspapers and magazines.

An Islamic religion station included a Muslim prayer rug with a compass imbedded in it to locate Mecca, readings on the Islamic faith, call to prayer items and prayer beads.

Younger visitors gravitated to the Arabic listening station, the Arabic coloring book stations and the mural, while visitors of all ages found the slide shows of Saudi Arabia to be captivating.

The “open tent” was created to encourage participants to reach out and learn from people around the world, and to promote curiosity and cultural understanding.

Are any such events, complete with prayer stations, being held for other cultures in public schools throughout America?

Well, at least the event didn't include dressing up as suicide bombers in order to promote a sympathetic understanding of jihad. Maybe the textbooks already take care of that.